This chapter presents the motivation for this study with the overall description of our master's thesis.
Then, the problem statement is identified where we formulate our overall research purpose and four research questions and about the structure of this master's thesis.
1.1. Motivation for the study
Solid waste management is a crucial topic regarding sustainable urban development of cities and communities. Solid waste refers to any garbage or refuse, resulted from air pollution control facility, wastewater treatment plant, and other discarded substance resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and from community activities. Almost everything we do leaves behind some kind of waste. Hence management of such substances is essential for the benefit of society (EPA, 2020).
Solid waste management can be defined as a set of interconnected elements of an organization that aims to establish policies, objectives, and processes facilitating the handling of solid waste. The scope may vary, and for this study, the strategic level in the town is the major focus in terms of monitoring performance (hage, 2016).
There are many different perceptions in solid waste and solid waste management. However, the main focus is that amount of solid waste is increasing each year considerably. It is an essential part of contemporary civilization, including a city and country`s services, activities, and performance. Every year, about 11.2 billion tons of solid waste is collected worldwide, and overall the world currently generates approximately 1.3Gigatons of solid waste per year, which is expected to increase to 2.2 Gigaton by 2025. The massive production of solid waste harms the environment because it directly affects societal well-being, people’s health, flora, and fauna. At the same time, many renovation companies worldwide are looking for solutions for managing waste in the long run (Maharjan,2016).
There is increased attention to the growing importance of supply chain management in waste management. Supply chain management in waste usually involves the process of collecting wastes from different parts of waste disposal centers, sorting wastes, transporting wastes, and disposal of wastes. Waste management companies can achieve the prospect of growth by embracing new technologies and data-driven strategic procurement, rethinking their supply chain relationships, and hence focusing on continuous improvement in management and operations (Ziemerink, 2020).
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Supply chain management (SCM) plays a considerable role in solid waste management. Waste management companies frequently grow through acquisition, making supply chains more complicated and often redundant. Therefore, they need to step up the pace of embracing strategic supply chains and rethink their supply chain relationships (Ziemerink, 2020). Building a proper SCM practice, it is expected that waste management companies can reduce their operating costs (business, 2021). These types of companies also make sure about customer satisfaction and ensure that their demands are met (business, 2021). At the same time, many waste management companies worldwide are looking for solutions for managing waste in the long term. Several supply chain strategies have been adopted to improve solid waste management. The adaptation of newer technologies, sorting machines, value optimization methodology helps deliver the most incredible value to the consumer at a minimal cost (Ziemerink, 2020).
For the last decades, there is an increased attention to making supply chains more sustainable. There are three aspects of sustainability within solid waste management, including social, economic, and environmental aspects. The economic aspect of sustainability involves factors, such as monetary benefits, return on investment, operating cost, and healthy cash flows. Business performance and balancing internal and external management practices also have an impact on maintaining economic stability (Kurnia, 2012). The social dimension mainly involves the issues related to the community, corporate government, the diverse relationship between employees and their safety, and human rights (Kurnia, Rahim et al. 2012). Collection of waste materials and disposal ultimately plays an essential role in the sustainability drive, as the responsibility of the government is to conserve resources and safeguard people`s health. The environmental aspect of supply chain management says that since the massive production of solid waste hurts the environment, it directly affects societal well-being, people’s health, flora, and fauna (Mohammad,2016). While the research on the environmental aspect of sustainability has tripled during the recent decade, the social aspect is still under-explored in the literature (Tsvetkova, 2020). However, to make a supply chain sustainable, it is essential to take into consideration all three aspects of sustainability.
1.2 Problem statement
Norway is continuously expanding its waste management methods to deal with its enormous quantity of waste. Since 1951, 60 percent of waste has been increased in Norway. This is because the country elaborated national solid waste targets. The Norwegian Environmental Protection Agency announced
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one of them and stated: "The total amount of waste shall be considerably less than the economic growth" (Miljøverndepartmentet., 2013). Waste management has the potential to turn challenges into solutions and to make a way towards sustainable development by reusing solid waste materials as renewable resources.
Being motivated by the mentioned above gap, the overall purpose of our master's thesis is to explore how sustainable SCM within solid waste management is organized in Norway, particularly in Molde municipality.
Our investigation applies a qualitative case study approach. The empirical case presents supply chain operations within solid waste management in Molde town, located in Møre and Romsdal county, Norway. We also focus on different types of solid wastes managed by municipal authorities and a local renovation company to create a sustainable balance between the natural environment and human activities in the long run. We formulated four research questions to make our empirical part more understandable and clearer to come to our overall purpose. Several solid waste supply chain strategies have been applied to improve solid waste management. Then, we come to our first research question (RQ):
RQ1: How does SCM affect solid waste management in Molde municipality?
From an economic aspect, solid waste management operations are essential, therefore the problem is figuring out how exactly solid waste supply chain operations in Molde contribute to the economic aspects.
RQ2: How do solid waste supply chain operations in Molde contribute to the economic aspect of sustainability?
From an environmental aspect of sustainability, solid waste management is of utmost importance as the collection of waste has a huge impact on the environment and the health of the people as well.
Negative effects of improper waste management such as air contamination, water contamination, harm towards marine life and animal
RQ3: How do solid waste supply chain operations in Molde contribute to the environmental aspect of sustainability?
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The social dimension mainly involves the issues related to the community, corporate government, the diverse relationship between employees and their safety and human rights. Thus, it is essential to explore the following research question:
RQ4: How do solid waste supply chain operations in Molde contribute to the social aspect of sustainability?
1.3 Structure of the study
Chapter 1. Presents the motivation behind the study, research problem, and structure of the study.
Chapter 2. Presents literature review that provides gaps of the study, logistics operations in municipal solid waste management, methods and techniques of waste management, reverse logistics, the social and economic dimension of sustainability.
Chapter 3. Presents methodology of the study, research design, and sample size of the study.
Chapter 4. Presents the process of development of solid waste management in Norway: context description.
Chapter 5. Presents empirical findings which include waste management of Molde municipality, solid waste supply chain operations in Molde municipality, the role of a renovation company in waste management, role of private householders in municipal waste management. Their perception of supply chain operations and sustainability and the importance of solid waste management.
Chapter 6. Presents analysis and discussion mostly involving Summary of the empirical findings, implications of solid waste supply chain operations in Molde for the economic aspect of sustainability.
Chapter 7. Presents conclusion, limitations, and further scope of research.
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